Educational Olympics: Literacy By Nation

When it comes to educational Olympics, not one single country emerges as the overall literacy winner. In fact, countries across the globe have different standards when it comes to educating their youth. While the United States has 12 years of compulsory education, this isn’t necessarily the standard for the rest of the world. For instance, Germany requires 13 years of education while Angola only requires four.

In 22 countries, at least half of the population is illiterate. 15 African countries have an illiteracy rate of 50 percent or higher. Interestingly, in Iceland, women earn more than two-thirds of college degrees overall.